chapter 45

“What do you mean by that?” Qin flared up in anger.

“Calm down.” Fu Zhixing’s gaze remained fixed on Alan’s face. “I’m just raising a reasonable doubt.”

Alan clenched his right hand into a fist and coughed lightly against his lips, his face pale, his voice weak. “It’s fine, I understand. At a time like this, you can’t be too careful.”

He soothed Qin and began recounting his experience from last night.

“Last night, because of what George said before he left, Bob and I agreed to take turns keeping watch. I took the first half of the night, he took the second. During my watch, everything was quiet, nothing happened. I was so tense and exhausted that as soon as my shift ended, I woke him up and immediately fell asleep.”

“And then?”

“I slept deeply. In my dreams, I vaguely heard the sound of dripping water, but I was just too tired. I thought, if something really happened, Bob would wake me up, so I let myself sleep on.” His voice was heavy, his face full of regret. “If only I hadn’t let myself sleep, if I’d forced myself to wake up, maybe things would have been different.”

“It’s not your fault,” Qin said softly.

“You slept straight through until morning?” Tu Nan asked.

“No… Later, I heard a frantic knocking at the door. I knew I couldn’t sleep any longer, but at that critical moment, I was struck by Sleep Paralysis.”

Rose drew in a sharp breath.

“The ‘Sleep Paralysis’ you’re talking about is just a normal physiological phenomenon, not actual Sleep Paralysis, right?” Fu Zhixing looked into his eyes and asked.

“Yes,” Alan said painfully, covering his face. “I tried desperately to open my eyes, but I just couldn’t. Half-awake, half-asleep, I felt Bob seemed to open the door. I was terrified, and forced myself to open my eyes, only to see Bob standing at the doorway…”

At this point, Alan began to gasp for air.

“Do you need to rest for a bit?” Qin asked worriedly.

“I’m fine.” Alan exhaled forcefully and continued, “His hand was already on the doorknob. I shouted his name, telling him not to open the door, but it was like something had taken over his mind-he couldn’t hear me at all.”

“I could only jump out of bed and try to stop him… but…”

“But you were still a step too late,” Fu Zhixing said softly.

“Yes.” Alan was on the verge of collapse, covering his face and sobbing. “He opened the door, and then… a hand reached in from outside, pierced his chest in an instant, and ripped his heart… right out.” Recalling that terrifying scene, Alan trembled all over, cold sweat pouring down.

“He couldn’t even cry out before he died. Then, the Weird set its sights on me…”

“How did you escape?” Jenny asked the question everyone most wanted to know.

“It moved so fast, I couldn’t react at all. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of me, reaching out to do the same to my heart. Its hand had already pierced through my clothes… I felt death was so close. But just then, the door was suddenly knocked on, and Qin’s voice came through.”

“The Weird in front of me paused. I tried to call for help, but it knocked me out cold. You all know what happened after that-I don’t know why it let me go.”

When Alan finished, he seemed utterly exhausted.

Tu Nan and Fu Zhixing exchanged glances.

“Then we won’t disturb your rest,” Fu Zhixing nodded and left the room.

Tu Nan followed him out, the two of them heading downstairs to the hall, stopping in a secluded spot.

“You need to be careful around him.”

“He’s lying.”

They spoke in unison.
Fu Zhixing looked at Tu Nan with some surprise and a hint of curiosity. “Why do you say that?”

“He said the Weird killed Bob the moment he opened the door, but Bob’s body was lying inside the room, not at the doorway. Did the Weird have the leisure to move the corpse after killing him?”

Tu Nan frowned. “Judging from the bloodstains in the room, Bob had clearly been dead for a long time-the blood was nearly dry. But if we go by Alan’s timeline, from when Qin knocked on their door to when we all went upstairs and found the body, there wasn’t nearly enough time for the blood to be in that state.”

“So, he must be lying,” she said with certainty.

Fu Zhixing’s lips curled slightly. “That’s right. So, not a single word of his can be trusted.”

“But without Qin’s Healing Item, he won’t survive long either.”

This matter was like a thick fog, impossible to see through.

“That’s what puzzles me,” Fu Zhixing said in a low voice. “What’s his purpose in lying? How did Bob really die? Is Alan… still the Alan we know?”

At these words, both of them fell silent.

It was only the second day, and things had already become so tricky.

“If he really has been replaced, then isn’t Qin in danger?” Tu Nan recalled that when they left earlier, Qin had stayed in the room.

“Right now, it’s all just speculation. We know nothing of the truth. Maybe things really are as he said-inside the Instance, nothing is impossible.” Fu Zhixing thought for a moment. “But we should still warn Qin not to get too close to this Alan.”

Tu Nan nodded. After a moment of silence, as if remembering something, she spoke again.

“Did you encounter anything strange last night?” She still couldn’t forget the milky white liquid that had flowed from the Faucet.

Tu Nan couldn’t believe she had simply imagined it.

“What do you mean?” Fu Zhixing asked.

“Last night, I saw milky white liquid coming out of the Faucet,” Tu Nan frowned. “But when I blinked, the water returned to normal, and nothing dangerous happened afterward.”

Fu Zhixing shook his head. “I didn’t notice anything like that, but I did see light coming in from outside the window. When I went to check, I found the window was covered in Boston Ivy. Where could the light have come from?”

His tone grew heavy. “I keep feeling that everything in this Manor is strange. On the surface, nothing seems wrong, but the details give off a sense of discordant weirdness.”

“So far, there doesn’t seem to be any danger.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, so this is where you are.”

A low, hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind them.

Tu Nan turned to see that George had appeared behind her at some point.

“Is there something you need?” she asked.

“I hope you haven’t forgotten the reason you came to the Manor,” George’s gloomy gaze fell on them. “It was too late last night, and Miss Lilith had already retired. But today, I expect you to fulfill your duties.”

“May I ask, where are the others?”

“Mr. George,” Fu Zhixing replied coolly, “One of our companions was brutally murdered in his room last night. Shouldn’t you give us an explanation for that?”

A dark glint flashed in George’s eyes. “An explanation? I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Why did such a horrifying death occur in the Manor? I am concerned for our safety.”

George’s hawk-like eyes stared at him, and Fu Zhixing met his gaze without backing down.

“I warned you not to open your doors at night,” George said impatiently. “We’re troubled by what happened too… Where is the body? I need to send someone to deal with it.”

Deal with it? How?